Feast of Thomas Ken, Bishop of Bath & Wells, Hymnographer, 1711 The case for inerrancy rests precisely where read more

Feast of Thomas Ken, Bishop of Bath & Wells, Hymnographer, 1711 The case for inerrancy rests precisely where it has always rested, namely, on the lordship of Christ and his commission to the prophets and apostles, who were his representatives. Because it rests on Christ and his authority, the question of inerrancy will therefore remain a key doctrine of the evangelical church so long as Christ is Lord. Evangelicals must remember, however, that this basis must be set forth anew for every generation. What was adequate for Gaussen, Pieper, and Warfield is still valuable, but it is not necessarily adequate to serve as the foundation for the thinking of our generation. The case for inerrancy must be made anew with each presentation of the gospel teaching.

Feast of Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, Teacher, 430 None can become fit for the future life, who hath read more

Feast of Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, Teacher, 430 None can become fit for the future life, who hath not practiced himself for it now.

Feast of Alfred the Great, King of the West Saxons, Scholar, 899 Commemoration of Cedd, Founding Abbot of Lastingham, Bishop read more

Feast of Alfred the Great, King of the West Saxons, Scholar, 899 Commemoration of Cedd, Founding Abbot of Lastingham, Bishop of the East Saxons, 664 All the revelations of God, as well as the laws of men, go upon this presumption, that men are not stark fools, but that they will consider their interest and have some regard to the great concernment of their eternal salvation. And this is as much to secure men from mistake in matters of belief as God hath afforded to keep men from sin in matters of practice. He hath made no effectual and infallible provision that men shall not sin; and yet it would puzzle any man to give a good reason why God should take more care to secure men against errors in belief than against sin and wickedness in their lives.

Feast of Boniface (Wynfrith) of Crediton, Archbishop of Mainz, Apostle of Germany, Martyr, 754 The separate creaturely life, as read more

Feast of Boniface (Wynfrith) of Crediton, Archbishop of Mainz, Apostle of Germany, Martyr, 754 The separate creaturely life, as opposed to life in union with God, is only a life of various appetites, hungers, and wants, and cannot possibly be anything else. God Himself cannot make a creature to be in itself, or in its own nature, anything else but a state of emptiness. The highest life that is natural and creaturely can go no higher than this: it can only be a bare capacity for goodness and cannot possibly be a good and happy life but by the life of God dwelling in it and in union with it. And this is the two-fold life that, of all necessity, must be united in every good and happy and perfect creature.

Feast of Thomas Ken, Bishop of Bath & Wells, Hymnographer, 1711 [The] doctrine of [inevitable] progress sustained our fathers read more

Feast of Thomas Ken, Bishop of Bath & Wells, Hymnographer, 1711 [The] doctrine of [inevitable] progress sustained our fathers in the carrying of capitalistic democratic culture to most parts of the globe. Its core was the conviction that, in thus extending the range of western liberal culture and developing its assumptions, they were in effect establishing on earth that which would grow into the kingdom of God. Some put it sharply but un-Biblically: "building the kingdom"; others, of a more secular turn of mind, echoed J. A. Symonds' hymn, "These Things Shall Be". That whole view exists today only as debris, for it has foundered on the rocks, not so much of human sin, as of the contradictions and complexities of the very western culture that was the substance of its belief.

Feast of Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, c.326 If I now want to add something of my own read more

Feast of Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, c.326 If I now want to add something of my own (i.e., inner assurances) to this faith, if this great and glorious faith is defective and saves me not till I can add my own sense and my own feeling to it at such a time or place, is not this saying in the plainest manner that faith alone cannot justify me? ... All I would say of these inward delights and enjoyments is this: they are not holiness, they are not piety, they are not perfection, but they are God's gracious allurements and calls to seek after holiness and spiritual perfection.

Feast of Edward the Confessor, 1066 The trouble with nearly everybody who prays is that he says "Amen" read more

Feast of Edward the Confessor, 1066 The trouble with nearly everybody who prays is that he says "Amen" and runs away before God has a chance to reply. Listening to God is far more important than giving Him your ideas.

Feast of Joseph of Nazareth It is the custom of unbelievers to speak as if the air of Palestine read more

Feast of Joseph of Nazareth It is the custom of unbelievers to speak as if the air of Palestine were then surcharged with belief in the supernatural, miracles were everywhere. Thus they would explain away the significance of the popular belief that our Lord wrought signs and wonders. But in so doing they set themselves a worse problem than they evade. If miracles were so very common, it would be as easy to believe that Jesus wrought them as that He worked at His father's bench, but also it would be as inconclusive. And how then are we to explain the astonishment which all the evangelists so constantly record? On any conceivable theory, these writers shared the beliefs of that age, and so did the readers who accepted their assurance that all were amazed, and that His report "went out straightway everywhere into all the region of Galilee." These are emphatic words, and both the author and his readers must have considered a miracle to be more surprising than modern critics believe they did. Yet we do not read of any one was converted by this miracle. All were amazed, but wonder is not self-surrender. They were content to let their excitement die out -- as every violent emotion must -- without any change of life, any permanent devotion to the new Teacher and His doctrine.

We can stand affliction better than we can prosperity, for in prosperity we forget God.

We can stand affliction better than we can prosperity, for in prosperity we forget God.